My street is getting more and more dangerous.

I live in a very nice area of the San Fernando Valley, on a very nice street. There's a mixture of houses and apartment buildings that line both sides of the street and the apartment buildings range from cute little duplexes and triplexes like mine to 40 unit buildings. The residences and buildings are well-kept, parking is usually plentiful, I'm close to a lot of great places in the Valley and Hollywood is just over the hill. I've lived in this area since '93 (though in a couple of different buildings) and I really like it.

Granted, gang territory starts up about 1/4 mile away (the nature of the San Fernando Valley: if you're not in a bad neighborhood, you're near one), but that's not where the danger is coming from. It's from all the cars that drive way too fast. See, my street has only two (fairly wide) lanes and is a busy thoroughfare which stretches from Sherman Oaks to Burbank. Far too many cars zip through my neighborhood as if it were Ventura Blvd.

According to Neighbor Billy (who's lived in his apartment since '84), there would be an accident on our four block stretch every six months or so. Not good, but not unusual. In the past 1 1/2 months there have been four. Early last month, right in front of my place, a drunk driver in a truck turned left in front of a lady driving a white sedan. The crash was very loud and caused everyone to leave their homes and check out the scene. Billy and a couple of other neighbors ran to the area where the drivers pulled over. As Billy went back to his place to call the police, another neighbor took the keys away from Mr. Drunk. Luckily, no one was hurt.

In the week and a half I was away on vacation, three more accidents happened. Two of them were minor, but a third accident caused the death of a little girl.

(All identifying names have been altered. Any notes in italics are mine.)

All articles are from the Los Angeles Daily News:

Fatal accident stirs neighborhood emotions
By Sherry Joe Crosby, Staff Writer

Wednesday August 4, 1999

The death of a 6-year-old girl has spurred the residents of a San Fernando Valley neighborhood to demand a crosswalk and stop sign on busy C. Street.

Katie R. was standing in front of her family's parked van with her mother and other children Friday night on the south side of C. Street near R. Avenue when a car sideswiped the little girl, police and eyewitnesses said Tuesday.

An observer who said the girl had dashed into the path of the oncoming car has recanted the account, said police Detective Humberto Fajardo.

Resident Sean O'C., who lives next door to the girl's family, said the recent restriping of C. Street contributed to Katie's death because the newly reconfigured lanes force vehicles to either cross the center lane or to come dangerously close to parked cars where the victim and her family were standing.

"It's not safe," O'C. said. "The center median is really scaring people and causing these accidents and these deaths."

Other residents disputed that account, saying the problem is speeders, not the striping.

"I won't even let my two kids go near the sidewalk without me there," said Daniela M., 27. "People just drive through here like they're crazy. It's very dangerous."

According to the Department of Transportation, C. Street from V. to the Los Angeles-Burbank city limits was resurfaced and restriped starting in February.

Calls seeking comment on the restriping were not returned by Department of Transportation officials.

But Fajardo, who is investigating the incident, said the restriping of C. was not a contributing factor in the girl's death.

"The skid marks (of the vehicle which hit Katie) appear to be very far from the sidewalk," Fajardo said. "It appears that the victim was in the roadway."

Instead, Fajardo said the victim and her family should have used an unmarked crosswalk at R. Avenue and C. Street.

But residents said an unmarked crosswalk isn't good enough. They want city officials to install a marked crosswalk and stop sign at the intersection where vehicle speeds regularly exceed 45 mph. It is a 35 mph zone.

"It shouldn't take a child dying to get them to put up a light or a stop sign," said Mandi L., who saw the incident and is the manager of the apartment complex where Katie lived with her family.

"We need a crosswalk, No. 1, and a stop sign would be wonderful. That would be the best alternative."

L., who has lived in the neighborhood for nine years, said traffic problems have been increasing on C. Street, which is used as an alternate route by motorists seeking to avoid the traffic-clogged 101, 134 and 170 freeways.

"I've seen this become a constant problem," L. said. "It's getting worse, and unfortunately we lost a life here."

In the meantime, residents are trying to raise money so the R. family can bury Katie.

"We want something special to be done," O'C. said. "This is affecting everyone. To have it happen to her hurts more than anything."

O'C. added that St. Patrick's Catholic Church in North Hollywood is collecting donations on behalf of the R. family.

Neighbors want steps taken to slow traffic
By Sherry Joe Crosby, Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 3, 1999

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY -- Residents along a busy street where a 6-year-old girl was fatally injured by a car called Monday for traffic safety devices to be installed in the area.

Katie R. was struck by a car Friday night outside her home when she darted into traffic in the 10*** block of C. Street, police said.

The girl died Saturday morning of head trauma at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, said Detective Humberto Fajardo of the Valley Traffic Division.

A Burbank woman was driving a 1997 Nissan Altima in the eastbound lanes of C. Street when her vehicle struck the child, said Officer Connie Silber of the Valley Traffic Division.

The driver has not been charged with any criminal offenses, said Fajardo, who is investigating the collision.

Residents along the heavily traveled route where the girl was hit said motorists often speed through the 35-mph zone, leading to many crashes.

"It is very dangerous," said Abraham K., a 10-year resident who wants to see a stop sign added to the area where the girl was fatally injured.

"We need a stop sign in the middle of the street so (motorists) will be forced to stop and drive carefully," he said.

Other residents suggested blinking yellow lights or pedestrian crossing signs to warn motorists to slow down.

"They need something to encourage drivers to slow down," said a 26-year-old man who lives near the collision scene but declined to give his name.

"They could place, perhaps, a light reminding people that this is a pedestrian area," said the man who can see a roadside shrine created in memory of Katie from his apartment.

Hanne S., 71, said although traffic is especially heavy during morning and evening commuting hours there are enough stop lights on C. Street between L. and C2. boulevards to slow down speeding vehicles.

"They can move, but they can't get up to rip-roaring speed," said S., who has lived in the neighborhood for nine years. "I don't think it's that dangerous a street." (There is no stop light or stop sign between L. and C2. boulevards. It is very easy to speed up to at least 55 MPH along that short stretch, if the traffic allows. Which it frequently does.)

The fatal collision occurred at 8:15 p.m. Friday when the girl and her mother were returning home, police said.

According to witnesses, the girl dashed into the street after her mother became distracted and stooped down to picked up a bag near the family's parked car, Silber said.

The girl died 160 feet away from a crosswalk on R. Avenue, Silber said. (Said crosswalk is unmarked.)

One last article:

Sunday, August 8, 1999

Dennis R. never met Katie R. He never had a chance to: The 6-year-old San Fernando Valley girl was killed by a car in the street in front of her home July 30.

But when R. heard people were collecting money to help Katie's family pay burial costs, he knew he had to help.

A lowrider enthusiast, R. gathered up his fellow car buffs in the Just For Looks car club to hold a car wash Sunday in Van Nuys to raise funds for the family. Fewer than a dozen cars stopped by, but they managed to raise about $200, including funds R. collected from co-workers at the home remodeling company where he works as a salesman.

"Even if it's only 200 bucks, that's 200 bucks that goes toward something positive," R. said. "That's what we're all about."

After the car wash, the group cruised out in a lowrider convoy to personally deliver the cash to the R. family.

Today, a makeshift altar stands along the fence in the 10*** block of C. Street where the 6-year-old was killed. She was struck by a car after apparently darting into traffic when her mother became distracted and bent to pick up a bag near the family's parked car, police said.

The driver, a Burbank woman, was not cited or arrested. Katie died the following day of head trauma at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

Neighbors have complained about cars speeding down the street, and a handwritten sign now cautions drivers to "Please slow down for Katie." Some slow down to gawk at the tribute, while others zoom by, ignoring the sign.

Flowers, candles and drawings from Katie's friends and classmates line the fence.

"Katie, you will forever be in my heart and mind. I will miss seeing you and talking to you. You made our lives happy. Love, Sean," reads one child's tribute.

When the lowriders pulled up to the site, each slowed down and hopped up and down on their hydraulic wheels -- their own unique form of tribute.

They then walked up to the handcrafted tribute and gazed silently, thinking about the lost life of a girl they never knew.

The R. family wasn't home when they arrived, so they left the money with a neighbor, who promised to deliver it.

I'm always saddened when I hear about an accident like this or see roadside tributes to an innocent life lost, but looking down the sidewalk every morning and every evening, seeing the flowers and signs, leaves me with an aching heart, and I wonder, why is it sadder when it happens in my own backyard?

More shooting of innocent children yesterday, this time fairly close to home, both geographically and emotionally. I'm still in shock, I'll write about it tomorrow. Thank heaven no one was killed.